Whisleblower News From The Inside -- April 30, 2018

By the C|C Whistleblower Lawyer Team

Whistleblowers Hope for an Ally at IRS – Tipsters have helped the Internal Revenue Service collect $3.6 billion since 2007. Whistleblower lawyers hope Charles Rettig, the potential next leader of the agency, will make it easier to bring in still more cash. Mr. Rettig, a California tax lawyer, is President Donald Trump’ nominee for IRS commissioner. He has worked extensively with people caught up in issues resulting from the U.S. effort to root out cash stashed overseas, in addition to other criminal and civil matters. The right person at the helm could help tackle issues such as the amount of time it takes for the agency to handle claims, improve communication with whistleblowers and make sure awards are paid, said users of the IRS Whistleblower Program. That could encourage more whistleblowers to come forward, saving money for taxpayers by helping the agency uncover additional fraud, they said. WSJ

Emboldened by Trump, banks push to throw off old rule constraints – Emboldened by President Trump’s pledge to loosen laws introduced following the 2007-2009 global financial crisis, U.S. banks are pushing to scrap or revise more than a dozen other lesser-known rules they say are outdated, costly and hurt economic growth. Many would have been revised a decade ago, but changes were shelved during the financial crisis and the fierce political battle over the 2010 Dodd Frank Act that imposed a new layer of restrictions. With Congress now poised to pass the first rewrite of Dodd Frank backed by key Democrats, and as Trump-appointed regulators strike a much more industry-friendly tone, banks see the changing atmosphere as an opportunity for a sweeping overhaul . . . Laws targeted by banks include the Civil War-era False Claims Act; the 1933 Securities Act; the Federal Deposit Insurance Act of 1950; the 1956 Bank Holding Company Act; the Bank Secrecy Act of 1970; a raft of lending laws including the 1977 Community Reinvestment Act; the 1991 Telephone Consumer Protection Act; the 2001 Patriot Act and the Sarbanes-Oxley Act of 2002, among others. Reuters

Biogen Must Face FCA Suit Minus 17 State-Level Claims –   Biogen Idec Inc. must face a False Claims Act lawsuit in Massachusetts after a federal judge on Friday ruled two former employees adequately alleged that the Cambridge-based company paid kickbacks in 2009 and 2010 to doctors who prescribed its multiple sclerosis medications. U.S. District Judge Indira Talwani kept alive most FCA claims, including that the company allegedly overcharged the federal government and 11 states. But she granted a part of Biogen’s motion to dismiss allegations of wrongdoing in 17 states “for which no claims have been specifically pled.” Law360